A prospective follow-up study of so-called borderline children

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to ascertain the current diagnosis in late adolescence or early adulthood of children who had previously been diagnosed as "borderline." METHOD: This was a prospective follow-up study of 19 of a group of 32 children (ages 6-10) who had been diagnosed as "borderline" during their treatment at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center approximately 10-20 years earlier. Life history information was collected, and axis I and axis II diagnoses were assigned by use of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R and unstructured clinical interviews. RESULTS: The most significant finding was that, contrary to expectations, there were no axis I diagnoses of affective disorders or schizophrenia. On the other hand, axis II diagnoses were prevalent, and the overall outcome for the subjects was poor. Family stability was the only significant predictor of the relatively good outcome of five of the subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The childhood borderline diagnosis appears to be an antecedent of an array of adult personality disorders, but it is not associated with the adult borderline personality disorder per se, nor with axis I diagnoses.